1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to baby bottle nipples. More particularly, the present invention relates to baby bottle nipples that simulate a woman's breast.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baby bottle nipples for feeding babies from bottles are known. Baby bottle nipples allow mothers to bottle-feed their babies as a temporary or permanent alternative to breast-feeding. Babies become accustomed to the shape and function of a woman's breast during breast-feeding. Due to the significant differences in the shape and function between a woman's breast and conventional baby bottle nipples, babies experience difficulty when switching between breast-feeding and bottle-feeding. This can cause a baby to fail to take formula from a baby bottle nipple. Likewise, babies can grow accustomed to the shape and function of a particular conventional baby bottle nipple, creating difficulty for the baby to return to breast-feeding. This can cause a baby to fail to take milk from a woman's breast because of a developed preference for the shape, texture and function of the baby bottle nipple.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,653,732 to Sheehy, a nipple that claims to have a “natural form” is disclosed. The nipple has an annular rim, a lower segment, an intermediate segment, an upper segment and a tip. The annular rim is used as a securing structure and is adjacent to, and integrally formed with, the lower segment having a large curved outer surface. The lower segment is adjacent to, and integrally formed with, the intermediate segment that has a smaller curved outer surface and is smaller than the lower segment. The intermediate segment is adjacent to, and integrally formed with, the upper segment that has a smaller curved outer surface than the intermediate segment. The upper segment is adjacent to, and integrally formed with, the tip. The disclosed nipple suffers from the drawback of having three segments or areas that do not simulate the shape and function of a woman's breast.